Bronson Arroyo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Cincinnati Reds — No. 61 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| June 12, 2000 for the Pittsburgh Pirates | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through September 10, 2006) |
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| Wins-Losses | 46-42 |
| ERA | 4.24 |
| Strikeouts | 532 |
| Teams | |
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Bronson Anthony Arroyo [ah-ROY-yoh] (born February 24, 1977 in Key West, Florida,) is a popular Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds and a rock musician. He has previously played for the Boston Red Sox from 2003 to 2005, and the Pittsburgh Pirates between 2000 and 2002.
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[edit] Professional career
As of July 28, 2006, Arroyo has compiled a 42-40 record with 485 strikeouts and a 4.31 Earned Run Average in 740 innings pitched in seven seasons. He has one career save. Arroyo's fastball is in the 87-92 miles-per-hour range. While it's considered average among major league pitchers, it has excellent movement and Arroyo is adept at "spotting" it. He also throws a hard slider that moves away from right-handed batters, and a straight changeup as well. Arroyo's best pitch is his curveball. He throws the pitch from multiple arm angles and is not afraid to throw it in any count. The angle of the curveball itself can vary from a straight 12-6 to a sweeping 1-7. Arroyo's delivery is somewhat unique; he incorporates a leg kick in his pitching motion, extending his front leg completely straight and lifting it up to a level above his waist before delivering the ball. His kick often appears to reach head level and deceives hitters with its exaggerated motion. From the set position, his leg-kick is much less pronounced and his delivery to home plate is very quick by major league standards. As a result, Arroyo is one of the better pitchers at holding runners on base.
Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the third round of the 1995 draft, Arroyo made his major league debut with Pittsburgh in 2000. He came to the Boston Red Sox after being selected off waivers before the 2003 season. Arroyo improved in 2004, while jumping from middle relief to starting, to strengthen his role as the Red Sox No. 5 starter. He compiled a 10-9 mark with a 4.03 ERA in 178.2 innings, while posting a very respectable 3.02 strikeout-to-walk ratio (142-to-47). His most productive season came in 2005, when he posted career-highs in wins (14), starts (32), innings (205.1) and pitching appearances (35). He also excelled at holding runners, as he only gave up five stolen bases.
Before the 2006 season, Arroyo signed a three year $11.2 million contract with the Red Sox. Arroyo said the deal was a "hometown discount" and agreed to the terms against the advice of his agent. Arroyo was later traded during spring training of the 2006 season for Cincinnati Reds outfielder Wily Mo Peña. [1]
This has certainly been his best season but not as of late. He led the MLB in ERA before June 5th with a record of 8-4, but he stumbled soon after. Following his ninth win on June 19, Arroyo took nearly two months to win his 10th, finally recording that double-digit victory on August 16.
[edit] Highlights
- On August 10, 2003, Arroyo pitched the fourth nine-inning perfect game in the 121-year history of the International League as the Pawtucket Red Sox beat the Buffalo Bisons 7–0 at McCoy Stadium. He needed 101 pitches to throw his masterpiece (73 strikes), struck out nine, and got 10 fly outs and eight ground balls from the Buffalo 27 batters. He went to a three-ball count to just three hitters all game. At the end of the month, he was with the big club for good.
- July 24, 2004- A struggling Red Sox team is energized when Bronson Arroyo throws a curveball that hits Alex Rodriguez, and incites a brawl that starts with catcher Jason Varitek throwing his glove in A-Rod's face. The cause of this brawl between Rodriguez and Varitek reportedly came after Rodriguez yelled at Arroyo to "..try to hit him again" to which Varitek responded "We dont bean .216 hitters." After the brawl, the Red Sox win on a walk off home run by third basemen Bill Mueller. Many Boston writers consider this game, and especially the fight, to be the turning point in the 2004 season.
- Arroyo will always have a place in Red Sox lore for holding the ball that Alex Rodriguez illegally knocked away in Game 6 of the 2004 American League Championship Series
. The umpires met and reversed the on-field ruling, forcing Derek Jeter to return to 1st base. Rodríguez was automatically out on the play. Arroyo then recorded the final out of the inning by retiring Gary Sheffield.
- Arroyo hit his first career home run on April 5, 2006 off Chicago Cubs left-hander Glendon Rusch at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. On April 11, 2006, he struck his second career longball against Rusch and the Cubs at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Much light of this was made in the Boston media; fan favorite Arroyo had more home runs at that point in the season than the power hitter for whom he was traded, Wily Mo Peña.
- On May 1, 2006, Arroyo pitched his second career complete game: a 4-hitter at home against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Reds won 6-1, bringing Arroyo's record on the young season to 5-0. Arroyo pitched 8 scoreless innings, at home against the Washington Nationals on May 11, to lower his season ERA to 2.03.
- Arroyo was named to his first All-Star team in 2006. Arroyo was hand-picked by NL All-Star team manager, Phil Garner, after being at or near the top of every pitching category in Major League Baseball.
[edit] Off the Field
- While with the Red Sox, Arroyo was photographed with a female Northeastern University student, Eliza Kurch, in his lap at a gathering in a freshman dorm room at the university. The photograph was leaked to the internet. The residence hall had a record of Arroyo being signed in on a number of occasions.
[edit] Trivia
- Arroyo was named for the actor Charles Bronson.
- In 2004, Arroyo joined the ever-growing number of Red Sox players who sport their own unique hairstyle (Johnny Damon, Kevin Millar, etc,). For his part, he spent much of the later half of the season (and the postseason) with cornrows.
- An avid musician, Arroyo taught Kevin Millar how to play guitar and performed vocals for the song Tessie by the Dropkick Murphys.
- Released his debut album in 2005, entitled Covering The Bases. It included covers from bands such as Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots and The Foo Fighters. The album also includes the Red Sox victory song Dirty Water by The Standells, in which Arroyo is accompanied by Johnny Damon, Lenny DiNardo, and Kevin Youkilis.
- Often jokingly referred to as "Brandon Arroyo", a reference to what broadcaster Tim McCarver called him during the 2004 ALCS.
[edit] Career Accomplishments
- In 2003, pitched a perfect game for the Pawtucket Red Sox (only the fourth in the history of the Triple-A International League)
- One-time World Series Champion (2004 Boston Red Sox)
- One-time All-Star (2006 Cincinnati Reds - NL)
[edit] Career Stats
Yr Ag Tm Lg G GS W L S ERA CG SHO IP H R ER HR BB K OBA IBB HLD BS --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2000 23 PIT NL 20 12 2 6 0 6.41 0 0 71.2 88 61 51 10 36 50 .384 6 0 0 2001 24 PIT NL 24 13 5 7 0 5.09 1 0 88.1 99 54 50 12 34 39 .369 6 2 0 2002 25 PIT NL 9 4 2 1 0 4.00 0 0 27.0 30 14 12 1 15 22 .277 3 1 0 2003 26 BOS AL 6 0 0 0 1 2.08 0 0 17.1 10 5 4 0 4 14 .164 2 0 0 2004 27 BOS AL 32 29 10 9 0 4.03 0 0 178.2 171 99 80 17 47 142 .314 3 0 0 2005 28 BOS AL 35 32 14 10 0 4.52 0 0 205.1 213 116 103 22 54 100 .322 3 0 0 2006 29 CIN NL 35 35 14 11 0 3.29 3 1 240.2 222 98 88 31 64 184 .296 7 0 0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOTALS 161 125 47 44 1 4.21 4 1 829.0 833 447 388 93 254 551 .322 30 3 0 7 seasons
[edit] External links
- BronsonArroyo.com - Bronson's Official Website
- ESPN - profile and daily updates
- Baseball Reference - statistics and analysis
- MLB - player page
